


mirror mirror, on the wall

by magnetichearts



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alcohol, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Vampires, dear god like this fic wrote its self, holy hell what even is that line of tags, i spent so long on this fic and its STILL trash wtf, its a fucking sentient being guys we're gonna die when the fics rise up, oh my god i couldn't even control myself this was supposed to be 1.5k but nope, this is stupid guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 10:59:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13902609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetichearts/pseuds/magnetichearts
Summary: everyone knows vampires don't have a reflection(or; annabeth and percy drink too much and confess a lot more)alternatively known as: how well can i project my feelings onto my favourite fictional characters?





	mirror mirror, on the wall

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my god guys, this fic is one of my faves because of how adorable it is. Like its still trash but I'm trash so I love it? Much thanks to mikalyptic for the help in motivating me to finish this fic after it's been sitting in my laptop for nearly a year and beta-ing it for me. All of y'all need to check out her HP fanfic. the one she posted recently is amazing and wonderful and oh my god one of the best things i've ever read. Check it out and make sure to shower her with 1.2 million kudos and comments!!

 

 

“There’s only so much of that Bloody Mary you can drink, you know.”

 

I groaned, tipping back the bottle and gulping more of the liquid down my throat. Once again, I felt my gaze turn dizzy, and for lack of a better support system, I decided to lie down, staring up at the ceiling as it starts to spin.

 

“You know, Jackson, I still hold my liquor better than you.” Percy’s been down for the count soon after we started, murmuring nonsense and smiles gracing his lips at odd intervals.

 

“Is that what we’re calling it now?” I smiled, showing perfectly white teeth and a pair of sharp fangs.

 

“Well, it’s not the expensive stuff. Really just something from a girl named Mary, type A.” Percy wrinkled his nose in disgust. It’s well known among our kind that type A is the least desirable. After all, the rarer the blood, the better it usually tastes. But we make do. It’s been about 50 years since we made peace with the humans, but I’ve been around for 2500, and still haven’t been able to figure out why they haven’t wiped us out. I guess it’s because we can survive on animal blood, if need be, and the fact that we only need a liter of blood day, not much at all. Well, I guess it is, for those who aren’t like us. But still, we make do. Plus, everyone knows human tastes the best.

 

I finished off the bottle, running my tongue over my lips to catch a bit of the excess liquid. Although type A isn’t very desirable, it’s also the kind that gets you drunk the fastest, and after both of us having consumed a fair amount of blood, (5 bottles each), we’re both fairly tipsy and have our inhibitions lowered. Vampires can’t get drunk on alcohol, our body metabolizes it too fast. We can, however, get drunk off of blood. It’s the equivalent of alcohol to us, if some humans consumed alcohol all day. And according to reports from moles in the human community, they do.

 

I sighed, and rubbed a hand over my face. I wish I knew what I looked like. Being a born vampire, I have no recognition of my face, and I don’t show up in photos, mirrors, windows, nothing. I don’t know what I look like, and frankly, I feel ridiculous. I’ve been a vampire from the moment my mother gave birth to me, her also being one too. Percy and I have also known each other for 2500 years, since we were born (my father and his mother were good friends), but we have eternity, so it doesn’t seem like very long. Yet we know everything about each other there is to know.

 

“The humans are bothering me again,” Percy muttered, clearly drunk. “I don’t like the way most of them smell. They smell weird.” I chuckled, pushing myself up and looking at his crestfallen expression. “I’m serious, Annabeth. They’re weirdos.”

 

“Says the undead, mythical being.” I joked, scooting next to him and laying down, so we were side-by-side. I linked my fingers through his and leaned my head against his shoulder. Percy had always been a constant in my life, a rock, and although he doesn’t have a heartbeat, it’s nice to pretend he has one, at least once in awhile.

 

“Annie, I’m bored,” he complained, pouting. I resisted the urge to kiss the pout off his face and sighed instead. It’s too hard for me to think, too busy and complicated and not enough fresh air. I’m tired. I want to go to sleep.

 

“We could play a game,” I suggested. Percy’s face lit up like a child on Christmas morning, and I chuckled. “I’ll go first. We’ll do a question game. I’ll ask you one and you’ll answer. Then you’ll do the same to me.” He nodded. “Ok. First question. Favorite place we’ve been?”

 

“The Caribbean,” he answered instantly. I raised an eyebrow. Percy’s a vampire, he can’t be out in the sun, for too long at least. He saw my expression, and shrugged sheepishly. “What? I liked the color of the water, and at least, the beach at nighttime was amazing. You?”

 

I played with my hair with my other hand, staring up at the ceiling. “Umm, I’m thinking the time we were pirates in the South China Sea at the time of the Black Plague. We really avoided a lot of that nonsense superstition. It was nice, looting and pillaging. Plus, I know how much _you_ loved being on the sea.” I nudged Percy’s shoulder, and turned my head to see the sheepish smile break out over his face.

 

“It was amazing.”

 

“Favorite famous person we met?” I asked him. He pursed his lips, and scrunched his nose, like he did when he’s thinking too hard. He looked entirely too adorable and distracting like this, so I looked away back at the ceiling.

 

“Remember that weird dude with the mustache and the cane? I think he was Teddy Roosevelt. Guy was a fighter, goddamn. I, the immortal being, got freaked out around him. What about you?”

 

“Oh, remember when we were pirates in China, our captain was this super scary Chinese lady with super dark eyes and dark hair.”

 

“No,” Percy admitted. “But we meet so many people it’s hard to keep track of them all.”

 

“Oh. Well, her name was Ching Shih. Madam Ching. She was a badass. I’d like to be like her.” I could feel my tongue loosening, inhibitions lowering due to the blood. “Do you think I’m a badass, Percy?” He laughed brightly.

 

“Sure, Annie. Not sure what you’re like in a fight anymore, since you used to be really good, but we don’t fight anymore. But you’re still a badass in every other way possible.”

 

“Really, Seaweed Brain?” I pushed myself to my feet, albeit drunkenly, and swayed, gripping the couch to steady myself. “Come fight me and let’s find out.”

 

Percy laughed. “You’re only gonna hurt yourself, Wise Girl. I mean, as much as you can hurt yourself. I’m not gonna fight you until you’re sober. I’m not sober.”

 

“No!” I stomped my foot like a little, kid and crossed my arms. “Come onnnnnnn.” I sang. “Fight me, please Perce?” I attempted to make my eyes like baby seals, the ones Percy used whenever he wanted me to give into his demands. It worked pretty well, unfortunately, and was _horrible_ for my sanity.

 

“Annieeeee. We’re not gonna fight right now. I’m too lazy to get up. Please sit down? Please?” Percy then turned those damn green eyes on me, and I crumbled.

 

I pouted, but sat back down. I stared at my best friend, and a thought formed in my head. “Fine.” I smirked. It took a second for Percy to realize that the look in my eyes was anything by innocent, but by the time he had opened his mouth, I had already launched myself at him, arms outstretched. I knocked Percy to the ground, fingers working at his sides. A peal of laughter escaped him as I straddled him, tickling his body.

 

“Anna-Anna-” he attempted to get out, between giant gasps of air. I was relentless, constantly moving my hands so that he couldn’t get a hold of them. His entire body was shaking with laughter, partly from my tickling, and partly, I realized, from the fact that I was laughing along with him. He suddenly got enough control over his arms, probably from the fact that my tickling had slowed down from looking at his handsome face, made only more handsome split into a smile, and in a smooth move, flipped us over so I was underneath him, and proceeded to attack me relentlessly.

 

I suddenly burst out into laughter as Percy’s fingers rubbed at my skin, tickling me. Not fair, damn him. He knew I was crazy ticklish and extremely sensitive at my ribs “Pe-Perce-” I managed to gasp out, before bursting out into laughter once more. I gasped, trying to take in some air as he continued to tickled me, showing no mercy.

 

“I. Hate. You.” I gasped, trying to wiggle away from him for some sort of reprieve. He grinned at me, the dorky, lopsided, beautiful smile he knew I loved, and slowed down the slightest, so I could breathe a little bit.

 

“No you don’t.” I mock-glared at his as he finally ceased his tickling and moved off of me, letting me breathe once more. I took large gulps of air as he patted my back, my sides aching from laughing so hard. I was used to it. Every moment with Percy was an adventure. I had the memories to attest to that.

 

He picked up the Bloody Mary bottle and took a swig, eyes glazing over a little bit. I rested my head on his shoulder, and the silence in the apartment was comforting. That was the thing about Percy and I, after spending centuries together, we didn’t need to fill the space between us with pointless babble, although it was perfectly nice to talk to him. We knew when to be quiet with one another and when to speak. We sat in silence for what felt like an hour, his hand stroking my hair, one of my arms wrapped around his waist, looking at the skyline through the balcony doors leading from the living room to the balcony. New York was beautiful.

 

His arms brushed mine as he set down the bottle, rough skin suddenly rubbing against his toned arm. He turned to look at my arm, the raised skin from the scar there white, standing out against my tanned skin tone. (if you wanna know how we were tanned and vampires, don’t ask me. The universe is weird man) “Tell me again, how you got this scar,” he said softly, fingers rubbing over and sending an electric current through my body.

 

I raised my eyebrows. “Uh, in case you forgot, Seaweed Brain, you were there. You know how.”

 

He sighed. “I know, I know. But please, just tell me.” I sighed. I must have been more drunk than I thought, because otherwise I would have never agreed to tell him this.

 

“It was really early, we were actually sixteen, back in Ancient Rome.” I didn't have to think about any of the details of this story. It had replayed in my mind nearly every day for two millennia. “Uh, you and I were fighting in a war with Rome, I can’t remember which one.” Everything besides that moment was fuzzy. “We were surrounded by a legion of Roman warriors guarding us, but we were also being attacked at all sides from the opposing side. You had your armor guarding you, but you weren't fully developed as a vampire yet. You weren’t impervious. Neither was I. Your back was turned and...” Here I stopped, getting choked up more easily than usual (again, the blood) but choked down my tears. “I saw a boy dressed in furs run behind you at the very last second, and he was holding a knife on it. It looked really weird, green instead of silver, but he was aiming for your back, the small point where you didn’t have any armor on because you got the last pick.”

 

I took another deep breath and continued on. “I don’t know what it was. I still can’t explain it, and I’m not gonna try. All I felt was that really deep in my heart, my soul, somewhere, you were in terrible danger. That something awful was going to happen if I didn’t do something. I threw myself in front of the knife. It sliced me here, pretty badly.” Percy’s fingers touched mine as they traced over the scar, white skin raise. “I don’t know what happened after that. I nearly blacked out from the pain. All I can remember is that you called your horse to come and get me to the medic tent immediately, and then the whistle blew, signalling sundown. The enemy retreated, and you and were left sitting in the tent.”

 

“There was poison on the blade, but the medic managed to stop it before it could hurt me. Two years later, you and I became impervious. I’ve been alright ever since.” I finished, staring at the ceiling, the floor, the bottle, anywhere but my best friend. I was scared to look at his face. I ripped the bottle from his dangling left hand and downed it, before getting up and going to the kitchen to open another one.

 

“You forgot something.” Percy said, so softly that I barely caught it. I moved back into my previous position, except just a little further away, so I could hear him better.

 

“What?” I breathed.

 

“You forgot something,” he repeated, looking up at me. Those green eyes locked onto my own, and if this wasn’t Percy, if he wasn’t such an integral part of me, I might have felt apprehensive. Instead, I simply waited. “I don’t know if you remember this, Annabeth. I was sitting with you, you were lying on one of the bed rolls they had in the tent. You looked so pale, and it was really hard to breath right there. I _hated_ it. You looked sickly and wrong and it hurt, god dammit you were the one who took the knife but you don’t know how much it _hurt_ to see you like that.” He stopped, moving his hand down so it was no longer tracing the scare but instead loosely wrapped around mine. His finger rubbed circles onto my palm and pulled the bottle from me, taking a long gulp.

 

He traced the condensation on the bottle and looked up, meeting my eyes. “I told myself that you had taken that knife for me, and you knew that you weren’t protected. You were fully aware that you would’ve died. But you did it anyways. I swore that I would protect you, at all costs. It didn’t matter what was going to happen to me. I needed to be like you. You, Annabeth Chase, are a badass. And you’re a hero.”  

 

“Percy,” I said softly, watching him. My heart swelled at this, and although I had heard him, and he told me this before, something about the way he said it this time, no guard up, all emotions bared, touched me deeply.

 

He laughed bitterly. “I’m pathetic. It really was for selfish reasons. I didn’t know what I would do to myself if I ever lost you. I couldn’t handle seeing you like that again, on the brink of death, injured, sickly. You mean more than the world to me, Annabeth. There is nothing I would not do for you, and I know there is nothing you would not do for me.”

 

“You are my best friend, Percy.” I said, watching him. “We protect each other, and that’s what we’ve been doing for the past millennia. Do not pretend that it was your fault I took that knife. Do not pretend that you failed in protecting me. You couldn’t have changed my mind if you tried. I took that knife for you then, I would take that knife for you now. If I lost my strength this second, i would still take that knife for you. If someone told me you would going to die tomorrow and there was no point, I would still take that knife for you. And you would do the same for me. Please, don’t blame yourself.”

 

I had never said this before. Weird, keeping it in for over 2000 years. But I guess I didn’t even really know it until now. “It’s you and me, against the world. That’s the way it’s always been.”

 

I didn’t even realize I was smiling until Percy sent a blinding smile towards my way, wrapping his arms around me. “Wise Girl, you’re actually the best.” I laughed. Drunk me was really open with her emotions.

 

“Hey, you were serious when you said you would do anything for me, right?” I asked him, suddenly nervous. I started fiddling with my nails, picking at the polish. I grabbed the bottle. I was ridiculously drunk, but I needed the courage. This was difficult, a question that had been burning up in me for as long as I could remember.

 

His eyes furrowed. “Of course.”

 

My voice seemed unnaturally small as I faced him and asked, “Percy? What do I look like?”

 

His raised his eyebrows, surprised. “Well,” he said dryly, “I wasn’t expecting that.” I shot him a glare and he raised his hands up in surrender. “Alright, alright. Don’t worry. I’ll be honest.”

 

“The only thing I know is that I have blonde hair and grey eyes. I don't know, Percy. It’s so weird that I don’t even know my own reflection. It’s like there’s something missing.”

 

“Well,” he began, “you’re right. You have blonde hair and grey eyes. But there’s so much more than that. You have the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen, and they change color because of what you feel. When you’re annoyed with me, but not mad, they look exactly like melting mercury. When you’re happy, they look like the sky filled with clouds. When you’re ecstatic, they look exactly like silver. And when you’re really, _really_ angry, they look exactly like the sky before a thunderstorm, before it cracks open. They’re beautiful.” I blushed, but her continued on. “Your smile is really pretty, Wise Girl. I consider myself the only one able to see all the different smiles you give me, but all of them make you look pretty.” He took a sip and continued. “My favorite is the one you get after we complete an adventure.”

 

“Your hair is stupidly soft, like sometimes I wanna snuggle next to you and bury my face in your hair because it’s so pretty. You look like a princess, with the curls and everything. Your skin is really soft too, and your nose is so pretty, Annabeth. Your face is really pretty.” Percy, at this point, seemed to be rambling, like he didn’t even know what he was saying. “You have the scariest glare in the history of the world, but when you’re happy and you blush it’s so pretty and your cheeks, right here,” he touched my cheekbones, “turn pink and it’s so pretty. Like that.” He sent me a blinding smile; apparently now I was blushing uncontrollably.

 

“Thanks Percy.” I muttered, cheeks still on fire.

 

“What about me?” he said, eyes transfixed on my face. I felt my blush intensify under his direct gaze. “What do I look like?”

 

I nearly swallowed my tongue when he asked that, but he had been so honest with me. I might have been tipsy, and him as well, but we were both only made more honest when we were drunk. Plus, our bodies metabolized blood quickly, not quick enough so we couldn’t get drunk, but quick enough that in two hours, I would be sober again.

 

“Percy…” I trailed off, struggling to find the right words. “You said that I have the prettiest eyes you’ve ever seen. You have beautiful eyes. Usually, when you’re surrounded by water, they take on the color of the water you’re around; they looked almost blue at the Caribbean and almost black at France. But when we’re not around water, they’re sea green, the exact color of Mediterranean sea foam as it splashes against the rocks. Whenever you’re happy to see me, you look like I hung the world and it makes me feel like I’m the best person in the world. Whenever you’re angry, your eyes turn so dark and hard that I get scared for you sometimes. You’ve never looked at me like that, though. Never with pure anger. And whenever you want something from me, you play the baby seal eyes. It’s only because I’ve known you for so long that I’m immune to it, and even then, only to a certain extent.”

 

“Your smile is one of my favorite things to see, the special lopsided one that you know I adore.” I blushed so hard I was afraid I resembled a fire hydrant. “You give me that smile and it’s one of the best feelings in the world. Not to mention you have a beautiful jawline, and your skin is tanned and makes you look unfairly handsome. Your hair is completely uncontrollable and soft and I love it and, and sometimes I really want to run my hands through it. And I like to fall asleep on the couch with you because you have really strong arms and they feel really nice around me and I’ve never felt safer than next to you.”

 

Percy stared at me, and I looked down at the ground. _Shit._ Had I just ruined my friendship because all of my feelings had come spilling out in these past few hours? I mean, yeah, I wanted to kiss him and be with him and love him, even though I already had the last thing checked off, but I couldn’t lose my friendship with him over anything. An eternity of being his friend was better than an eternity without him.

 

“You don’t know how badly I want to kiss you right now.” He muttered, tipping his forehead forward so it rested on mine. His fingers traced over my cheeks, and my breath caught.

 

“What-what did you just say?” I breathed, not believing that he had meant what he just said.

 

“I want to kiss you. I’ve wanted to kiss you for over two thousand five hundred years. I’ve wanted to kiss you since before you took that knife for me. I’ve been in love with you from before you took that knife for me. I’ve loved you for what feels like forever. It’s been _forever_.” He grabbed my face in his hands and traced over it reverently, drinking in my features.

 

“Percy-” I didn’t know what to say. “I-I love you. I have loved you for as long as you have loved me. I can’t remember when I didn’t love you. You’re a part of me, Seaweed Brain.” I laughed brightly, throwing my arms around him and hugging him tightly. “Us against the world, right?

 

He laughed. “Right. I can’t wait to kiss you after we sober up.”

 

I pulled back, my eyes twinkling. “What, not now?”

 

He grinned and tucked a strand of loose hair behind my ear. “No. If we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do it right. After all, we’ve been waiting thousands of years. I want the first time I kiss you to be absolutely perfect.”

 

“It’ll be perfect because I'm with you, Seaweed Brain,” I whispered, but I conceded to his request. “But you’re right. We’ll wait.” Percy wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in for a tight hug, burying his face into my neck.

 

“After all, we do have eternity.”

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews give water to writers like us. Please take the time to comment! i'd really appreciate it!


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